books.google.com - With the bravura storytelling and pungent authenticity of detail she brought to her acclaimed Lymond Chronicles, Dorothy Dunnett presents The House of Niccolò series. The time is the 15th century, when intrepid merchants became the new knighthood of Europe. Among them, none is bolder or more cunning...https://books.google.com/books/about/Race_of_Scorpions.html?id=C7q2yFExBAcC&utm_source=gb-gplus-shareRace of Scorpions

Race of Scorpions: Book Three of the House of Niccolo

With the bravura storytelling and pungent authenticity of detail she brought to her acclaimed Lymond Chronicles, Dorothy Dunnett presents The House of Niccolò series. The time is the 15th century, when intrepid merchants became the new knighthood of Europe. Among them, none is bolder or more cunning than Nicholas vander Poele of Bruges, the good-natured dyer's apprentice who schemes and swashbuckles his way to the helm of a mercantile empire. In 1462, Nicholas is a wealthy 21-year-old. His beloved wife has died. His stepchildren have locked him out of the family business. He and his private army are the target of multiple conspiracies. And both contenders for the throne of Cyprus, the brilliant Queen Carlotta and her charismatic, sexually ambivalent brother James, are demanding his support. Walking a tightrope of intrigue, Dunnett's hero juggles adversaries and allies, from the delectable courtesan Primaflora to the Mameluke commander Tzani-Bey al Ablak, a man of undiluted evil. Masterfully paced, alive with sensual delights, Race of Scorpions confirms Dorothy Dunnett as the grande dame of the genre.

LibraryThing Review

User Review - devilish2 - LibraryThing

A journey to Cyprus, a courtesan, political and business intrigue, the usual Niccolo. You are never entirely sure who is on which side until the very end. Which I both like and dislike. I like it ...Read full review

LibraryThing Review

User Review - jkdavies - LibraryThing

Book 3 of the Niccolo series, and we are just about starting to root for Niccolo, who on the whole seems to have come back from Trebizond having tried his best for the Charetty company; only to be met ...Read full review

About the author (2010)

Dorothy Dunnett was born in Dunfermline, Scotland. She is the author of the Lymond Chronicles; the House of Niccolò novels; seven mysteries; King Hereafter, an epic novel about Macbeth; and the text of The Scottish Highlands, a book of photographs by David Paterson, on which she collaborated with her husband, Sir Alastair Dunnett. In 1992 she was awarded the Office of the British Empire for services to literature. Lady Dunnett died in 2001.